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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nHistoric in its scope, this collaborative and long-term effort between Jeff Hatten<\/a> of the OSU College of Forestry and Scott Holub of Weyerhaeuser monitored nine managed Douglas-fir forest stands in Oregon and Washington, before and after conventional timber harvest and replanting, and involved more than 50,000 soil samples from 2700 sample points, thus far. Continued monitoring of soil carbon with additional rounds of sampling is planned at these sites for decades to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cOur original hypothesis that timber harvesting would decrease soil carbon in the short term was disproven,\u201d said Hatten, a soils researcher in the college\u2019s Department of Forest Engineering, Resources and Management<\/a>. \u201cAnd I think it\u2019s fair to say this has been the most extensive sampling ever conducted to determine if harvesting has an impact on soil carbon.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe no-result was remarkable,\u201d he\nsaid. \u201cEven where you have the highest soil temperatures and the highest soil\nmoistures \u2013 the strongest environment for decomposition that releases carbon dioxide\ninto the atmosphere \u2013 harvesting doesn\u2019t seem to have an impact in the areas we\nstudied. And the results likely extend to similar areas, probably totaling many\nmillions of hectares in the Northwest.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Across all the sites combined, after\nharvest, the scientists found negligible change (+2%) in mineral soil carbon\ncontent and a 184 percent hike in forest floor carbon, the result of harvest\nresidue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Modern harvest methods are designed to cause minimal soil disturbance,\nand the stable soil carbon would seem to reflect that, the researchers said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cConcern about rising atmospheric\ncarbon dioxideconcentrations has heightened interest in the role\nthat forests play in carbon sequestration, storage and cycling,\u201d Hatten said. \u201cLiving\ntrees sequester and store carbon, but less recognition has been given to soils\u2019\nrole. We have plans to resample these sites in coming years and decades to look\nat the longer-term impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Citation:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Holub, S.M. and Hatten, J.A. 2019. Soil\nCarbon Storage in Douglas-Fir Forests of Western Oregon and Washington Before\nand After Modern Timber Harvesting Practices. Soil Science Society of America\nJournal 83(1):S175-S186.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Abstract available here: https:\/\/dl.sciencesocieties.org\/publications\/sssaj\/abstracts\/83\/s1\/S175<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Conventional timber harvesting has no effect on carbon levels in the mineral soils of the western Pacific Northwest for at least 3 1\/2 years after harvest, according to recently-published research by Oregon State University and Weyerhaeuser Company. The study is important because soils contain a large percentage of the total carbon in forests \u2013 generally… Continue reading